Parking ticket .do I need to pay

niblor

Kefalonia wrote: »

I have today received a parking charge of £90 for over-staying in my gym car park which is now managed by Parking Eye. I've read most of the postings on this forum, but none seem the same as my situation, so I need some clarification whether I can still ignore the ticket.
Since April the gym car park has had cameras installed which film you enter and leave and there are also bright yellow (clearly visible) signs up in the car park stating that you only have 3 hours parking and must sign in at the gym or you will get a £90 fine. When you enter the gym you have to enter your car registration into a macchine on the reception desk. Does this mean I have 'entered a contract' with the parking company??

I pay monthly gym fees but hardly ever use the gym due to long working hours etc, but last week I used it for the first time in about a month. I entered my registration number into the machine and noted the time on the clock behind the reception desk. It said 2.40pm, so I calculated I had til 5.40pm and made a mental note to leave the gym at 5.30 so as to get back to my car in time.

Because I hadn't been to the gym for awhile, I wanted to make the most of it and do a thorough workout followed by a sauna and steam etc. so knew I would need the 3 hours (I could have done with more time!). All the time back in the changing rooms I was checking the time on mobile and left a few minutes later than planned at 5.32pm. But to my horror as I passed reception the clock said 5.40pm and then I remembered that for some reason the gym clock has always been ahead of time! But as I had noted the time on that clock when I logged in, then I only had 3 hours from that (wrong) clock, so I had effectively overstayed the 3 hours!

So sure enough I have now got the fine and if I don't pay in 7 days it goes up to £120! My question is, do I have to pay as I signed in my car registration details at the gym, so this might be taken as my agreement to a contract of some sort? Also, will the gym penalise me if I refuse to pay, by cancelling my membership or adding the parking fine to my direct debit? (are they allowed to do this?) Any help will be much appreciated as I just can't afford to pay this fine and don't see why I should, when I pay expensive monthly gym fees and was told when I joined the gym in 2000 that there would never be any parking charges imposed. (though I didn't get this in writing)

I was parked in a car park covered by parking eye last year. I was 10 mins over the alloted time and got a ticket sent through this post with a picture of my car leaving the car park. The times of me arriving and leaving were printed on the ticket. All very professional looking. After reading up on this company I decided to ignore the ticket, I have had three additional letters all threatening to increase the fine, take me to court, that kind of thing. That was in December last year, I have heard nothing more since Febuary.

niblor

I was parked in a car park covered by parking eye last year. I was 10 mins over the alloted time and got a ticket sent through this post with a picture of my car leaving the car park. The times of me arriving and leaving were printed on the ticket. All very professional looking. After reading up on this company I decided to ignore the ticket, I have had three additional letters all threatening to increase the fine, take me to court, that kind of thing. That was in December last year, I have heard nothing more since Febuary.

white.coconut

Hi,

I've had the same 'fine' issued to me last week. I had gone out shopping with my disabled mother and i stupidly thought that her badge would make parking at this retail park 'free'. Little did i know i received the same letter with the same amount asking me to £60 within 14 days or so for parking without paying. I then rang them and explained this to them and they advised me that i write into thier apeals department.

I've never had dealings with ParkingEye before so i'm naturally worried about not paying and then this 'fine' increasing and then having to pay more..... should i stick to my guns and not pay??? I feel like a criminal

p.s can they take any action in court, now that i have put my foot in my mouth and told them that I was the driver?

AlexisV

Just ignore them.

esmerobbo

Its not a fine they have no authority to charge you. Don't appeal its just a ploy to get your details without paying. Do as Alexis said simply ignore them and the letters that follow.

happyinflorida

Parking charges on private land are totally legally wrong.

My husband works for an NHS hospital who have introduced parking charges for staff. As he's on a low income he cannot afford to pay.

So he looked into it & discovered that he doesn't have to pay.

He had been paying and stopped. He got two tickets, one day after another. He informed management that the parking charges were invalid, he hadn't entered into a contract with the parking company - which is not the hospital, they employ an outside contractor to go round and check for parking tickets in staff's cars and they issue the tickets.

So far he's had quite a few letters which he steams open, reads, laughs and then puts back in the envelope, glues shut again, looks like it hasn't been opened and he crosses out his name and address & writes on the envelope - "no contract with you, return to sender"

It's been many months - no court summons to date - don't think there will be!

Even if it goes to court - he's prepared for that - look up on Youtube - there are a lot of examples of how to treat these scum bags in the right way and tell them where to go legally!

They probably won't waste their money taking you to court.

There's loads of advice online, so look it all up.

You've got to be brave & you've got to ignore them - ignore all the letters, don't let the legal jargon - that is all legally incorrect - get to you!

Good luck!

Mindyloo

I am going through a similar thing at the moment, and have found some very good advice on parking and other "offences" etc on the website pepipoo dot com(sorry can't post links!)

jewles

Hi

I join most of you in being miffed when receiving a ticket in a car park. Sure i was late but £50 is too much for 11 minutes!
I paid for one hours parking and after a few events while shopping i was late back to my car. Beside my car was an apologetic man writing out a ticket. It was a sunday with a lot of spaces available. I was not blocking anything or parked illegally but for 11 minutes i get charged £50, if not paid in 14 days goes up to £100. Surely this is wrong, my ticket explains that i have broken contravention code 3, i admit i did, but £50!! I would like to appeal, has anyone else had experience of this? Thanks

trisontana

jewles wrote: »

Hi

I join most of you in being miffed when receiving a ticket in a car park. Sure i was late but £50 is too much for 11 minutes!
I paid for one hours parking and after a few events while shopping i was late back to my car. Beside my car was an apologetic man writing out a ticket. It was a sunday with a lot of spaces available. I was not blocking anything or parked illegally but for 11 minutes i get charged £50, if not paid in 14 days goes up to £100. Surely this is wrong, my ticket explains that i have broken contravention code 3, i admit i did, but £50!! I would like to appeal, has anyone else had experience of this? Thanks

Just ignore it, you don't owe them a penny. What on earth is "contravention code 3?". I imagine it's yet another attempt by a private parking company to fool someone into thinking that it's an official document.

You talk of "parking illegally". If it's on private land then no statute laws have been broken.

Coupon-mad

jewles wrote: »

Hi

I join most of you in being miffed when receiving a ticket in a car park. Sure i was late but £50 is too much for 11 minutes!
I paid for one hours parking and after a few events while shopping i was late back to my car. Beside my car was an apologetic man writing out a ticket. It was a sunday with a lot of spaces available. I was not blocking anything or parked illegally but for 11 minutes i get charged £50, if not paid in 14 days goes up to £100. Surely this is wrong, my ticket explains that i have broken contravention code 3, i admit i did, but £50!! I would like to appeal, has anyone else had experience of this? Thanks

'Has anyone had experience' of this'...LOL! You are posting on a very busy parking board where almost ALL the posts each day are about private parking company (PPC to us) fake ticket scams!

You would NOT like to appeal, I promise you! If you attempt to 'appeal' a fake PCN then you haven't read enough about these scams. There is NO appeal process, it's the PPCs' way of collecting info about the driver, and in order to mimic a Council PCN (let's pretend there's a chance of an appeal so people think it's REAL!).

Read up on a few threads, even if not about 'your' private parking company, they are relevant to you if they are about ANY PPC:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...play.php?f=163

You need to read the top thread first, 'PPC letters, what to expect' and see that this whole thing is a mail scam and that the registered keeper of the car will receive some scary debt collector letters! You must ignore them, I know it goes against the grain but you must ignore the whole scam even if the letters appear to have come from a solicitor (they have not).

Just check out that top thread, see what letters the parking company send out. Also make sure you click on 'Welcome, please read before posting' (hahahaha, the irony of having to link that thread almost every time!). Read the info about PPCs there and click on the must-see paper aeroplane Watchdog link. The solicitor telling Anne Robinson about the fake PCN scam is an expert in the field.

HTH